Finally, your children are asleep. Now, you have a moment to yourself; you can watch a movie, spend some time on Netflix, read a book, or catch up with a friend, maybe? 

Sounds fun and idyllic.

Work-life balance has gained traction post-pandemic. As a parent, you are often caught up in balancing work, personal, and family life. Yes, it can be a juggling act, but it is important as it benefits the family and improves your overall well-being. According to a Harvard Business School survey, 94% of working professionals work more than 50 hours weekly. The amount of time spent working triggers stress and can damage your happiness, health, and relationship with your loved ones.

Earlier, work-life balance was not crucial for parents; however, attitude towards work-life balance has changed over the past few years. Many parents work from home to manage their work life and family. But sometimes, working from home doesn’t help you achieve an equilibrium between life and work. Besides, it is also necessary to focus on your child’s early education with equal efforts from both parents.

When all these responsibilities seem overwhelming, there are several ways you can adopt to create effective quality family time.

In this blog, learn about how you can manage your work while giving equal attention to your family, especially your child’s early education.

Benefits of Work-Life Balance

Combining work, family, and your child’s education can be a struggle. However, doing so effectively can aid you with numerous benefits, such as-

•         Improved mental health and managing stress and anxiety
•         Boost in   productivity, you can do more with your time
•         Building stronger relationships by strengthening your connection with your partner, child, and family.
•         Spending more quality time and focusing on your child’s upbringing
•         Taking personal time to look after your health

With a positive work-life balance, children benefit the most. Even if you send your children to a daycare school, you can spend quality time with them after work. You can cuddle them more to make your child make them feel connected, safe, and secure.

Tips for Active Work-Life Balance

•         Changing working habits, reflecting on yourself, and considering any other habits that need change can help you start with it. For example, your phone or email availability after working hours needs to be changed instantly. While spending your time with family, put them on priority at the time and do not respond to any work-related stuff.
•         Get into flexible working arrangements which work better for you and your families, such as flexible hours, job sharing, different start and finish times, working from home now and then, working from a different location, etc.
•         Give your children your undivided attention. Listen to them and interact by giving your 100% focus. Also, help them gain interest in education by asking them about their school, what they learned, etc.
•         Let go of the guilt if you can’t spend time with your family or child due to unexpected circumstances. Everyone has bad and good days, but feeling bad all day long won’t solve any problem. Thus, be present with your family and focus on them during such situations.
•         Creating and planning a family calendar will go a long way in prioritizing your time together. It can include school and family events like birthdays, special family get-togethers, extra-curricular activities, chores, and date nights with your partner.
•         Get in touch with the daycare center now and then to feel more connected with your child. You can communicate with them and help them grow.  

Role of Parents in Child’s Early Education

Parent involvement in early childhood education is crucially significant, and a child needs to grow in all aspects- social, emotional, and mental. Today, parents have realized the importance of daycare and their roles in performing tasks such as active participation in their children’s education as it goes beyond daycare. Parents should-

•         Teach their children about what is right and what is wrong
•         Enable them to express their emotions, thoughts, and opinions
•         Encourage them to be independent and self-confident
•         Be available for them

Pre-schooling is the first time a child gets out of the comfort zone of their parents. Not only is the child afraid of this transition, but parents also get scared of sending their child away from home. This transition is assured by early childhood educators who facilitate smooth learning. However, it does not mean parents are no longer required to look after their children. They remain active participants in their child’s overall life. Thus, parents need to-

•         Guide their children to engage with other students and make friends
•         Ensure that their child is participating in extracurricular activities
•         Have regular engagement with the teachers at daycare

All parents should commit to their family, work, and personal life so that their life seems easy. For parents, the importance of work-life balance begins with a little give-take and flexibility.

At ipsaa daycare, we recognize your child’s needs and you as a parent. Being the best daycare in Gurgaon, we welcome and encourage your participation as a parent to upgrade your child’s skills and learning. If you’re seeking more balance in your work life, contact us as we help you get through it smoothly. 

Why educational activity toys are important for your child?
Play gives children a chance to practice what they are learning Mr. Rogers (Author)
How rightly said! Isn’t it? Engaging the child in playing is the best way to start learning. Children love to explore and learn new things at an early stage in their lives. As parents, we prefer to fill our homes with toys that our dear ones love and enjoy. Did you know that encouraging your child to play with educational activity toys can help them to develop their gross and motor skills?
Children are quick learners and great observers, and the introduction of these educational and physical toys to a child’s early stage has been shown to enhance their imagination and social skills.
Educational toys are not necessarily the ones with numbers or alphabets on them. Toys like Puzzles, colorful blocks, and musical rhymes books are also educational toys.
Parents do not need to worry about the pressure these educational toys bring to their children. These learning toys are designed to develop children’s brains. The main purpose of educational toys is to encourage learning through play.
Musical instruments, connecting toys, jigsaw puzzles, craft kits, blocks, and doctor-play sets are some of the best educational toys which develop creativity and problem-solving skills in children. Looking into the child’s interest and their early stages of development will guide the parents in selecting the right educational toys and games for their children.
.Benefits of educational activity toys are:-

1.MOTOR DEVELOPMENT

Educational toys are linked to enhancing sensory-motor skills in children. Colorful and vibrant lights develop the sense of sight in children. These toys help them to evolve their personality and communication skills.

2.ENCOURAGE IN IQ LEVEL DEVELOPMENT AND PROBLEM-SOLVING SKILLS:-

Learning and development toys are renounced to boost the children’s IQ by creating stronger memory retention and coordination. Children’s educational toys and games challenge their mind in different forms. For instance, when the child tries to solve the puzzle; he uses his intellect to understand it, which advances their problem solving skills.
3. INCULCATE AND NURTURE SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
We all know, how proper training can help in making our child a social being right at home, and with educational toys, children take on role-playing, prospering emotions, and develop empathy. Playing different games also promote their emotional as they react to different emotions such as anger, sadness or laughter.

4. IMPROVED CONCENTRATION
By playing different games, you may help your child to focus on a task for a longer period. Early introduction of games will help the children to improve their concentration. This simple tactic will help later on, during his growing years.

5. FOSTER CREATIVITY AND IMAGINATION
Educational toys not only evolve learning and growth but also give the children the ability to think in different ways and develop creativity. These toys incorporate games that emphasize innovative ways of solving different problems.

Well, we’ve all been there, enjoying an eventful family time playing games together, and suddenly the peace is cut short when one child hits the other and cries, shrieks, and whines come pouring out.

It is quite common during playtime, especially among kids, that they tend to hit each other. Often, it can become stressful for the parents to figure out the best way to handle their behavior. Besides, it is more awkward for parents when their child starts hitting others in daycare and they worry about how to solve the problem.

Do not doubt you are alone in this, and you do not have to worry about it. Lots of parents face this issue at their homes or daycare. In this blog, we have highlighted the reasons why toddlers tend to hit their peers and how you can alter their mindset towards it.

Why do Toddlers Hit their Peers?

Children can become very aggressive sometimes, which is normal for their emotional development. It is quite common in children of ages 3 to 6 as they are developing various behaviors, such as the instinct to bite, kick, hit and yell when feeling emotionally overwhelmed. It is because, at that age, they cannot control their emotions, so hitting, cutting, etc., are some ways they go with. The following are some of the reasons why toddlers hit their peers-

No Self-Control over their Emotions

When dealing with toddlers, know that their impulse controls are not yet developed. They have mixed feelings, sometimes, they feel happy, sad, frustrated, or bored, but they cannot express their emotions. According to research, the hitting of children between the ages of 3 and 9 shows positive growth as they can learn and develop their minds/emotions.

Not Able to Understand that it is Bad

Sometimes, toddlers use force to do things without being provoked, which supports the idea that they want to learn and see what happens. They do not possess the moral compass or understanding that it is not right to hurt others, but they do because they are unaware that it is wrong. Besides, scientists have studied that 11 to 24 months old toddlers were not found to be distressed at times while hitting others.

Not Knowing how to Process their Feelings

Another reason toddlers tend to hit themselves and others is their way of handling big emotions. They are frustrated, but unlike adults who can calmly explain their feelings, toddlers do not possess the capacity or self-control to stop, react, and feel that they are socially appropriate, acceptable, and helpful.

What to do when Toddler hits?

Luckily, hitting is just a phase that can be dealt with as a parent and concreting the paths of your children. Daycare is one of the best ways to redirect your child’s steps. If your child already goes to play school, you and your teachers can help them figure out their emotions and how to handle them. Also, you can follow the below ways to benefit your children.

Take your Child away from the Situation

We’ve all heard, “if you hit again, I’m taking you to the car,” Will it be effective? Yes, but for some. Simply removing your child from the situation is the best way to solve the problem. It might not be effective at one go, but doing so more than once can make your child realize that their actions will have consequences, such as not being able to play with others if they act. 

Additionally, it depends on where you take your child. For instance, if your child is showing tantrums at another person’s house, you can take them to your car to calm them down. And if you are at your house, choose a calm and quiet location to help them refocus.

Restraining them Physically

When your child hits others, your first instinct might be to physically hold them back. If they are out of control and you feel that physically securing them can calm them down, it might be a good option. Physically restraining your child shouldn’t have to be painful in any way, but do that calmly and give a firm hug that can prevent them from hitting themselves or others. Moreover, you can speak to them calmly and let them know that you’re holding them because what they’re doing is wrong.

Providing Emotional Support

When your child hits someone, it may be because they cannot manage emotions. You can try teaching more options for emotional expressions, such as what various feeling words mean and how to use them. Explaining frustration to a 5-year-old may be difficult and different than to a 2-year-old. Using and learning dialogue to express while being mad, stressed, frustrated, and other emotions can prove useful.

Prevent Hitting

Observing your child’s behavior leading up to hitting and preventing it before hitting can be helpful. You can do so by learning about the triggers that cause them to hurt others and themselves. For example, some children make frustrated noises, almost like a dog growling, while others can whine about the problem. When your child starts acting like this, you can run towards them and calm them before hitting becomes an issue. You’re more likely to stop and talk them through options by identifying the triggers.

Final Thoughts

As parents, it is important to understand that children hitting others or themselves is natural and a life phase. Approaching your child’s behaviour and planning to manage their emotions through support from daycare or preschool teachers can set a course of action. If you’re looking for a reliable and supportive daycare near Gurgaon, ipsaa is your solution. Contact us today to know more.